In Southeast Asia many years ago someone developed an ingenious method to catch monkeys alive and unharmed. The “Monkey Trap” which was developed was very simple, the hunter would take a pot with a wide bottom and narrow opening and bury the pot in the ground to where the opening of the pot was just above the ground. In the pot the hunter would place pieces of fruit, nuts or meat on skewers. The heat of the day would cause the oder’s of the treats to attract monkey’s to the delectable monkey treats. The monkey smells the treats and reaches down into the narrow opening of the pot to grab hold of the treat, as the monkey attempts to extract the treat from the pot, the monkey finds that their fist full of food will not fit through the narrow opening. The monkey excited and frustrated will scream as he continues to hold on to his food and attempts to remove it from the pot. This is a sign for the hunter to walk over to the monkey and throw a net over to capture it. Even as the monkey sees the hunter approaching instead of letting go of the food the monkey holds on to the food tighter and tries even harder to dislodge it’s arm and fist of food from the pot.
Of course you and I realize that to escape from the monkey hunter, the monkey simply had to let go of the food and it would have easily been able to remove it’s arm from the pot and run for it’s freedom! All the monkey had to do was LET GO!
Silly monkey’s! We humans would be smart enough to simply let go to gain our freedom, would we not?
Of course we would like to think that we are smart enough to let go of something to gain our freedom, however the truth is, many of hang on to things so tightly that we imprison ourselves, when all we have to do is be willing to let go to gain our freedom.
What/who are you holding on to? What/who do you have a death grip on that you refuse to let go of? What would happen if you decided to let go? How good would it feel to free yourself from you personal “monkey trap”?
It is all up to you, you can decide right now, today to release your grip and walk away, be free!
What will you let go of today?
Posted by Desiree on April 10, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Great story and great analogy! It really is so very true. Someone asked in one of their comments to you (perhaps it was yesterday) if you were a teacher. Well perhaps you’re not a teacher by profession but Mark you are most assuredly a great teacher! Keep up the great work. I know you are making a difference in the lives you touch here!
Posted by Justin V on April 10, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Mark,
Good post today. You know this letting go the past mentatily is really sinking in. I’m starting to feel much “lighter”. The story makes a great point letting go, and freedom is yours.
Posted by tobeme on April 10, 2007 at 7:51 pm
Desiree,
I am glad that you enjoyed this story. I love it and have used this many times in discussions with people.
I truly appreciate that you honor me with the title of a great teacher. I am as much a student as I am a teacher.
I do so appreciate all of your kind words, thank-you!
Posted by tobeme on April 10, 2007 at 7:52 pm
Justin,
Glad to hear that it is all seeking in! Glad that you are begining to feel lighter as you learn to live in the present.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Posted by Jan Tore Noreng on April 10, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Great post. At first I thought this was all about climate changes and how we would have to live with less stuff, and I guess it could be seen as a comment on that as well. But it also has a broader, more philosophical goal.
Posted by tobeme on April 10, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Jan Tore Noreng,
Thanks for the comment. Glad that you enjoyed this story.
Posted by Loving Annie on April 10, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Good Tuesday morning Mark ! I am starting to realize that letting go is a series of decisions, a repeated choice take consciously again and again…
Another great post !
Posted by tobeme on April 10, 2007 at 9:20 pm
Loving Annie,
Good afternoon! Hope all is well.
This is a good realization to have!
Thanks for your thoughts!
Posted by Helen Burton on April 10, 2007 at 10:02 pm
Hi Mark:
It seems we are both on the same wave lengths today, I was also blogging about animals. It is amazing watching animals and realizing sometime we have the same behaviors. I love what you say in your blog that as human sometimes we won’t let go. I always hated the word, “Surrender” until I realized that it did not mean I had to give up, only have faith that things will work out. Thanks Helen
Posted by tobeme on April 10, 2007 at 10:45 pm
Helen,
We do sometimes get hung up on words don’t we. Words and our understanding, perception of certain words can often give us an excuse to maintain a barrier.
Thanks for adding your thoughts today.
Posted by Grace on April 10, 2007 at 11:48 pm
I love this story of the “skandalon”, Mark. The first time I heard it was in church about 5 years ago. The pastor actually tied it in with the theme of ‘unforgiveness’, and how harboring unforgiveness in our hearts is a real trap – endangering ourselves in so many ways.
So today, I am letting go of any unforgiveness I might have. I freely and with compassion forgive anyone for anything I might perceive to have been harmful to me. I let them and the memory, the pain, the unforgiveness go.
Posted by tobeme on April 10, 2007 at 11:59 pm
Grace,
Good to hear from you! It is a wonderful freedom of self to forgive!
Blessed you are!
Posted by seandbe on April 11, 2007 at 12:31 am
Very good line of thinking. I still strugle almost every day to let go of stuff that only weighs me down. And I need new ways to put it into presctive.
Posted by Sophia on April 11, 2007 at 12:49 am
I am going to try to let go of needing to be loved and accepted by others, and I am going to do this by loving and accepting myself first! To continue I need to let go of thinking that others bring me happiness, because happiness can be found within instead of without! And hopefully this isn’t too selfish because I really believe that to heal the world we need to heal ourselves first! It starts here, then progresses! And who knows, maybe someone will learn from my mistakes!
Posted by tobeme on April 11, 2007 at 12:51 am
seandbe,
Glad that you found value in this story. Why do you think that you struggle to let go of stuff?
Thanks for your thoughts.
Posted by tobeme on April 11, 2007 at 12:58 am
Sophia,
You have stated many wise thoughts. To turn inward is not selfish at all! You will be of better service to this Universe when you find the happiness and wisdom within yourself. As you said it starts with you. You have much to teach all of us!
Thanks for adding your thoughts, you have added value to this conversation.
Posted by rjlight on April 11, 2007 at 1:26 am
So often like the monkey we know we will sacrifice our freedom for our desires but we still can’t seem to let go, can we? Good post.
Posted by Alexys Fairfield on April 11, 2007 at 2:45 am
Monkeys are often the blueprint to human behavior.
Marvelous parable. Animals can teach us so much about ourselves. BTW, you have a very insightful blog here and I am impressed with its contents. Keep up the good work.
Posted by tobeme on April 11, 2007 at 2:52 am
Rjlight,
Yes we do. The key is that we do not have to allow our desires to impede our freedom. We do not have to be a slave to our desires.
Thanks for the thoughts!
Posted by tobeme on April 11, 2007 at 2:54 am
Alexys,
Welcome! Yes, interesting how monkeys often offer up a blueprint for our behavior. Good observation. Glad that you found value in this parable.
Thanks for your generous comments and for your valued thoughts!
Posted by Faith on April 11, 2007 at 10:12 am
Great post! People find it hard to let go on certain things in their life for the fear of changes. I think the thing I need to let go is similar to Sophia. I need to stop needing to please everybody and to stop worrying about what people thinks of me. I should just do what I feel is right for me, instead of worrying if people will judge me for it or not.
Posted by LynxLee on April 11, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Thanks, tobeme; for dropping a line in my LyricalExpression blog and all these posts that are inspirational in yours. Great job & keep on keep on. =)
Posted by tobeme on April 11, 2007 at 7:38 pm
Faith,
Glad that you enjoyed this story. I agree that you find much peace in living for and pleasing yourself and not worring about pleasing other people or worring about what they think of you. The truth is, by letting go of this, you will come to be your self and by the very nature of being you, you will please people, people will be attracted to you and love you even more.
Thanks for your thoughts, they are very valued by me.
Posted by tobeme on April 11, 2007 at 7:38 pm
LynxLee,
Thanks for stopping by and thank-you for your comment.
Posted by hisrealestatenetwork on April 15, 2007 at 10:47 am
Not a new story to me, but a fresh read proved helpful all the same. We often let go of the fruit in the jar and still do not always learn the lesson- instead grasping and holding on to something else. I enjoyed your interpretation. Let’s just not forget that if the DNA scientists are correct then monkeys are close to 98% human….or are we 98% monkey? Good post!
Posted by tobeme on April 16, 2007 at 7:57 pm
hisrealestatenetwork,
Glad that you enjoyed the story again. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.
Posted by tumel on August 14, 2007 at 7:42 pm
I feel sad for animals today I think because what I see in this story is the little monkeys trust being taken advantage of, but I like what was said about words.
Posted by tobeme on August 14, 2007 at 8:11 pm
I don’t think the monkeys in this story have trust in the hunter, they simply are too focused on what they want that they cannot see that they could avoid being caught.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Posted by The Power of a Story « The Naked Soul on August 23, 2007 at 1:27 am
[...] lessons, which were deemed to have value by our parents and religious leaders. We use stories like “The Monkey Trap” or urban legends like the guy who wakes up to find someone has harvested his kidneys to help us [...]
Posted by Rabbagast » Blog Archive » Zen på søndag: Apefellen on October 11, 2007 at 1:43 pm
[...] sprer herved denne saken jeg kom over på The Naked Soul. Innlegget het The Monkey Trap, og det følgende er min oversettelse: [...]
Posted by DJ on July 31, 2008 at 1:00 pm
haha…a friend told me a story about how to catch a monkey, and it was the way you said it but with small differences…after he told me the story, i also thought of the same thing you did…i also wrote about it but you wrote it a lot better than me…i would’ve wanted to write it the way you did but i’m not really good at writing…hehe